


Veterans of Hogwarts

by ginwannabe



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-28
Updated: 2020-06-27
Packaged: 2021-03-03 23:33:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 18,878
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24953845
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ginwannabe/pseuds/ginwannabe
Summary: As those who fought in the Battle of Hogwarts return for their final year,  will the bonds forged in battle bring them closer together, or drive them apart.
Relationships: Hannah Abbott/Neville Longbottom, Harry Potter/Ginny Weasley, Hermione Granger/Ron Weasley
Comments: 2
Kudos: 9





	1. Coming Home

**Author's Note:**

> I've had several one-shot plot bunnies bouncing around my head lately, but before I could attempt them I felt like I needed a foundation for them. So I'm writing this story to set the background for those bunnies to develop. I do not envision this being a full length novel of their final year, but a short story from which my other bunnies can grow. This has been by far the hardest story for me to write, thus far, but I'm anxious to test myself with it. As for the title, the credit for that must go to my father. When I told him what I was trying to do, he suggested the title. At first I was reluctant, because these characters are still teenagers, but then I realized, my father was himself a veteran before the age of 25, and most wars are fought by the young, so it's not as far fetched as one might think. So this story is dedicated to all veterans, young and old, who have had to learn to cope with the aftermath of war.

The four friends stood on Platform 9 ¾, gazing at the gleaming red engine. They were filled with a variety of emotions, ranging from excitement to trepidation. Things were so different from the way they were the last time they boarded the train. They were returning to the place they’d called home for so many years, but it was also the place where their worlds had been turned upside down. Only four months ago it had been the site of a devastating battle that destroyed the building as well as many lives within it, but it was also the place where good had triumphed over evil, where lives could be reborn and futures were unwritten.

The slender girl with the bushy, brown hair looked up at the tall red-headed young man beside her, and then to her other side where a boy with jet-black hair that stuck out in odd directions, stood. Beside him stood a girl with long, red hair that was smooth as silk and gently blowing in the wind. She reached out and grabbed both boys’ hands.

“Let’s go then, shall we?” she said to her friends.

And with that they each waved their wands and levitated their trunks onto the train. They wandered down to the last compartment. They always seemed to end up there each year. They stowed their trunks above and settled into their seats. The girl with the bushy hair sat down next to the boy with the red hair and put her head on his shoulder. He smiled slightly as he put his arm around her. The smile disappeared when he looked at the other red-head doing the same thing with the boy with the black hair.

“Oi! You two are awfully chummy over there,” he exclaimed.

“Honestly, Ron, you really are the pot that called the kettle black,” the younger girl responded waving her hand at her brother and his girlfriend, “I’m not doing anything with Harry that you’re not doing with Hermione.”

His arm flinched slightly, but stayed put when he heard his girlfriend mutter, “Don’t even think about it, Ronald. Ginny’s right, it’s time you got over this foolishness, right now. Life is too short not to spend it with those we care about,” she looked up at him and gave him a peck on the cheek. 

Shortly after the train started on its way, an elderly witch stopped at the door of the compartment.

“Anything from the trolley, dears?” She asked.

Despite the care package of goodies sent by Mrs. Weasley, they all ordered some pumpkin pasties and pumpkin juice. While they were eating, the door opened yet again, this time revealing two former classmates. Neville Longbottom and Luna Lovegood were standing there.

“We’re not interrupting, are we?” Neville asked.

“Of course not, please come in,” Ginny said with a smile, scooting over on the seat to make room. Hermione did the same.

“How was your summer, Neville?” Harry asked his friend.

“Okay, I suppose. Gran and I spent it rebuilding the cottage. The Death Eaters did a number on it when they tried to capture her.”

Hermione reached over and squeezed his hand, then looked across at Luna who was gazing vacantly out the window.

“How are you doing, Luna? You look well, not so undernourished as you were this spring.”

“Oh, I’ve been eating well. Dad has made all my favourites for me. He’s sent some plimpy soup if you’d like to have some,” she replied airily.

“Er…thanks, Luna, but we’ve just eaten,” Ron said, with a wave at the wrappers from their snack, thankful that they had a valid excuse to avoid Mr. Lovegood’s plimpy soup. 

“Of course, plimpy soup is an acquired taste,” she allowed.

The schoolmates chatted about their summers and watched the scenery zoom past as the train took them closer and closer to the castle. As it began to slow, they looked at each other with similar looks of excitement and anxiety.

They all gathered their belongings and stepped off the train, joining the throng of students on the platform in Hogsmeade. They heard a familiar voice and turned to see Hagrid towering over everyone.

“Firs’ years this way. Evenin’ ‘arry. It’s good ter see ya all again.”

They all grinned at Hagrid as he led the first years toward the landing where they would file into the boats that would give them their first view of the magnificent castle that would become their home for the next seven years.

“Oi! Hullo there, mates!”

The sextet turned to see their old friends, Seamus and Dean standing with Lavender and Parvati. They clapped each other on the back and nodded greetings at everyone, before heading up the path to where the carriages awaited them. Harry stopped as he heard the collective gasp of everyone as they saw the thestrals for the first time.

“Oi…I don’t know which is worse, riding on the back of one of those things without being able to see it, or actually seeing what I was riding on when we headed to the Department of Ministries on those things,” Ron said, his mouth agape.

Lavender, who had only heard of the thestrals in Care of Magical Creatures, turned to the others and asked, “Have they always pulled the carriages?”

It was Hermione that answered, finally finding her voice again, “Yes, apparently so, but since only those who have seen death can see them, most of us thought that the carriages were enchanted.” She reached down and grasped Ron’s hand again as tears welled up in her eyes. Looking around she saw that, sadly, most of her classmates could now see the creatures. “Oh, I wish they were still invisible to us all.” 

Ron wrapped his arms around her, and Harry did the same for Ginny. They climbed into two carriages, the Trio, Ginny, and Neville in one, and Luna, Dean, Seamus, Lavender and Parvati in the other. It did not take long before they rounded the bend and got their first glimpse of the castle looming before them. The ministry and staff had been hard at work all summer repairing the damage from the final battle. The only hint at what had occurred there only a few months ago was the monument that had been placed in front of the main steps leading up to the magnificent doors. At the top of the obelisk was engraved: “Dedicated to the Veterans of the Battle of Hogwarts.” On it, all the names of those who had fought that fateful night were engraved. One side was dedicated strictly to those who had lost their lives in the battle. Harry stood reading the names of those who had hadn’t lived, a huge sense of burden filling him. Ginny, who was standing next to him, touched the name of her brother, and let the tears fall from her eyes, then looked at Harry, and took his hand.

“It’s not your fault, Harry, and I will not let you blame yourself. Every last one of these people willingly gave their lives for what they believed in,” she turned again to the obelisk and ran her hand over the other names of those they all had cared for…REMUS LUPIN, NYMPHADORA TONKS, COLIN CREEVEY, and for one last time over FRED WEASLEY.

Ron clapped Harry on the back and said, “Ginny’s right, mate. Fred wouldn’t want us standing here feeling all sorry for ourselves.”

As they continued around the monument, they all found their own names engraved in alphabetical order around the white stone.

“Veterans? How can we be veterans? We’re not old enough to be veterans,” Lavender said. The others seemed to be thinking the same thing.

“Yes, but we are veterans, aren’t we? My grandfather was only 19 when he fought in World War II, and he was considered a veteran. Why not us?” Hermione replied. 

“I suppose,” Lavender said, she reached out and touched her name, “You know I’m glad to have been a part of it.” 

Ron gave her an incredulous look, “Are you mad?”

“Well…er…I don’t mean I’m glad it happened…” she sputtered, “it’s just that, I’m proud of the part that I played, and that I participated…oh; I don’t know how to explain it.”

Hermione put her hand on Lavender’s shoulder and said, “I think I know what you mean. You helped to make a difference, and you have every right to be proud.”

Lavender looked at Hermione, “I don’t think I ever said, ‘Thank you’ for saving me that night. I know it was you who stopped Greyback, I recognized your voice.”

Hermione blushed crimson, “Anybody would have done that.”

“No, not everyone would have done.”

There was a moment of silence where no one really knew what to say, until, “Well, Veterans, what say we go and eat? I’m feeling a bit peckish.” Seamus lightened the mood, and everyone turned and headed toward the entrance. Harry stood for another moment looking up at the white stone that matched that of Dumbledore’s tomb. He looked towards the castle and saw Ginny standing at the foot of the stairs waiting for him. She held her hand out toward him, and in a few quick strides he was by her side, taking her soft hand in his.

“We’ll get through this together. All of us,” she said, giving him a quick kiss on the cheek and together they walked into the castle.


	2. Settling In

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Veterans have arrived for their final year and begin to get settled.

As the Gryffindor crew settled in at their table, Luna skipped over to the Ravenclaw table and wedged herself in between two fifth years. Headmistress McGonagall stood up from the teachers’ table and looked out over the students.

“Welcome back, it’s good to have everyone back, especially those who were unable to make it last year,” she looked at Harry, Ron, and Hermione, as well as Dean. All who had been unable to return the previous year, or those who had ended up in hiding for fighting against the previous administration had been offered the opportunity to return to finish their N.E.W.T.S. Hermione had been quick to jump at the opportunity, and after a year of being separated from Ginny, Harry wasn’t about to let her go back without him. So, Ron had agreed to return, along with Neville, Dean and Seamus, and from McGonagall’s continued searching of familiar faces around the Great Hall, quite a few from other houses had as well. Harry saw that Draco Malfoy had returned for his final year. Their eyes met, and whilst there was certainly no love lost between them, Draco gave a curt nod in his direction, and then returned his gaze on the new Headmistress, who had continued her speech.

“The past few years have been…distressing, to say the least. We understand that it will be difficult at times, and we have hired Healer Kibitzer who will be available for anyone who needs to discuss recent events. It is important to remember, however, that we should honor those who died by living our lives to the fullest, and not getting bogged down in the past or by things that we had no control over,” McGonagall looked pointedly at Harry at this comment.

Everyone watched as the new first years were sorted into their houses, and then McGonagall stood one more time.

“Mr. Filch has asked me to remind all students that the Forest is out of bounds, and that there is a lifetime ban on all items from Weasleys’ Wizarding Wheezes. And now, let’s eat.”

The previously empty table suddenly became laden with roasts, turkeys, vegetables, and desserts. Ron wasted no time in loading his plate with everything, while Hermione just shook her head and laughed.

“Wha’?” he mumbled through his mouthful.

“It’s nice to see that some things quickly go back to normal, that’s all,” she replied.

Ron just shrugged and everyone laughed and continued eating the delicious food that the House-Elves had prepared for them. After the feast all the students made their way to their respective dormitories. As the Gryffindors reached the top of their tower, they stopped before the Fat Lady, whose eyes were glistening to see the return of all “her” children.

“Victory,” Hermione gave the password.

“Yes, indeed it is,” the Fat Lady replied as she swung open.

Everyone scrambled through the hole. The Veterans stood drinking in the familiar red and gold of the room, letting the warmth and security of it sink in. The First Years stood in awe as they got their first glimpse of where they would spend the majority of their time over the next seven years. Hermione told them where the boys’ and girls’ dormitories were, and then joined the others who had congregated near the fireplace. Harry and Ginny were sharing the big, overstuffed chair. Dean, Seamus, and Neville were stretched out on the floor, leaning against the sofa. Ron had taken up one end of the sofa, conjured up a small ottoman and propped his feet up on it. Lavender and Parvati were talking quietly at the other end of the sofa. Hermione stepped over Ron’s long legs and sat down next to him. He wrapped his arm around her, and she tucked her head into that space on his chest, just below his shoulder that felt like it had been put there just for her comfort. She let out a contented sigh and stifled a yawn. It had been an emotionally draining day for everyone. She looked over to see Harry with his head leaned back against the chair and his eyes closed, Ginny in his lap with her head on his shoulder, her eyes also closed. The boys on the floor were whispering to each other, and she giggled when she heard Ron let out a soft snore. She closed her eyes, too, and dozed off.   
She awoke with a start at the sound of a loud popping. It seemed that everyone had been startled by the appearance of Kreacher in the common room as the poor House-Elf suddenly had nine wands pointed at him.

“Begging your pardon, Master, and Master’s friends,” Kreacher said with his hands up, “Kreacher just wanted to make sure you had everything you needed. Kreacher could bring some snacks.”

“Sorry about that Kreacher. Old habits die hard, I suppose,” Harry said as everyone let out the breaths they hadn’t realized they’d been holding, and put their wands back down and slowly relaxed, “I think we’re all fine though, anybody need anything?” Harry asked looking at the others. Everyone shook their heads, except Ron, who was pondering if he’d need a bedtime snack when Hermione nudged him and gave him a look that clearly said he did not need anything.

“No, I guess we’re good then,” he said with a resigned sigh.

Kreacher bid farewell and popped away. Seamus stretched and yawned.

“I’m right knackered, think I’ll head on up to the dorms,” he got up and headed for the staircase, followed by Neville and Dean. Parvati and Lavender took this as their cue to head up the opposite staircase, leaving the Quartet staring at the fire.

“I’m exhausted myself, and we have classes first thing in the morning,” Hermione said with a hint of excitement in her voice. She looked up at Ron and gave him a kiss good night, “I’ll see you at breakfast, then.” He wrapped his arms tightly around her and acted as if he wouldn’t let her go. “Ron, I really am tired,” she protested, whilst leaning in instead of pulling away. He kissed the top of her head, and then relaxed his hold on her.

“All right, I guess I’ll head up then, too,” he said. With one last kiss they separated and headed up to their dorm rooms, leaving just Harry and Ginny alone in the common room.

Harry breathed in the scent that was exclusively Ginny’s and tightened his hold on her. She looked up at him and smiled sleepily.

“We should go to bed ourselves, you know,” she reached up to touch the dark circles that were under his emerald eyes. She knew he hadn’t slept well in the days leading up to their departure. He was sleeping better now than he had for the past year but wondering how things would be when they returned had led to some sleepless nights.

“Mmmmm,” he said with his eyes closed. He felt safest here with Ginny close to him.

“Harry, really, go to bed,” she said as she struggled to get up, he pulled her closer.

“You don’t think you’re going to get away from me that easily, do you?” he said with a grin. He pulled her into a kiss that she then deepened while running her hands through his mop of raven hair. She pulled away and looked at him through sleepy lashes.

“Sleep well, love. I’ll see you in my dreams,” and with that she pried herself out of his arms and wandered over to the staircase. She stopped at the bottom, turned, and blew him a kiss before heading up to the room that she would be sharing with Hermione and the other seventh year girls.

Harry sighed as he pulled his own weary body out of the comfortable chair. He stopped at the bottom of his staircase to look around the room. He had wondered if he’d ever be able to spend time here again when he left it over a year ago. As difficult as it was to be here and reminded of all that had happened on these grounds, it felt right to be here. If he was going to heal and move on, this is where he needed to be. He was home again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was mostly a fluffy chapter to make the transition from the beginning of the story to where I want to take it. I hope you enjoyed it.


	3. Of Snogging and Snacks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The adventures of a Friday night.

It was amazing how quickly they all fell back into the habit of going to classes and working on homework. Not to mention how quickly the first week of the term flew by. The common room was crowded with people lounging and studying on the first Friday of the term. Ron tossed his quill down and stretched.

“So much for the ‘Heroes of Hogwarts’ getting preferential treatment,” he muttered to himself.

“Well, did you really expect them to treat us differently, Ron? That wouldn’t be very fair, now would it?” Hermione said rolling her eyes.

“Fair? How bloody fair was it for us to traipse around the country last year looking for bloody pieces of You-Know-Who. I think getting a smaller homework load isn’t asking too much.”

“Honestly, Ronald. He’s dead already, and there’s no more taboo on his name, just call him Voldemort.”

“I’ll call him whatever I bloody want to call him, and I’m done with this homework, too! Come on, Hermione, it’s Friday night, let’s get out of here for a while.”

“And just where do you suggest we go, Ron?”

“I dunno, just out. There’s plenty of time to finish these essays over the weekend, don’t we deserve to have a little fun our last year here?”

He looked to Harry for agreement, but Harry was otherwise occupied, and not with studying.

“Ugh…would you two stop it already?” 

“You know, Ron, perhaps if you were snogging Hermione, you wouldn’t need to worry so much about Harry and myself,” Ginny replied before going back to kiss Harry.

Ron turned to look at Hermione, “You know what they say, if you can’t beat them, join them.”

“Ron, we’re prefects, we shouldn’t be snogging in public. We’re supposed to set an example.” 

“Well, then, what do you say to a walk? I’m sure we could find somewhere NOT public to snog,” he replied with a wink and a grin. Hermione couldn’t help but smile and shake her head at him.

“I suppose I could use a bit of fresh air,” was her noncommittal answer, “do you two care to join us for a walk?”

“Nmfnmw,” was Harry’s muffled reply.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t quite catch that,” Hermione said with a giggle.

“Not now,” Harry said when he paused for a breath.

“All right then. Shall we go?” Hermione asked Ron as she held her hand out to him.

He followed her out the portrait hole and they walked through the castle holding hands. As they passed one of the hidden passages Ron pulled Hermione behind the tapestry.

“Is this a private enough spot to snog my girlfriend?” he asked, his lips so close to her ear his breath caused a shiver to go down her back. She looked up into his ice blue eyes and smiled.

“It’ll do,” she whispered as she reached her arms over his shoulders and tilted her head to accept his kiss.

They stood hidden in the shadows kissing for several long minutes before they were interrupted.

“Oh-ho…it seems the shoe is on the other foot, now,” Dean said with a snicker in his voice. Ron and Hermione broke apart and Ron turned toward Dean who had entered the passageway with Seamus and Neville, Lavender and Parvati not far behind.  
“Bugger off, Thomas,” Ron said, clearly put out to have been interrupted. 

“You know, Seamus,” Dean continued, “this is the same place that Ron tried to clobber me for snogging his sister, and here he is doing the same thing.”

Hermione put her hand on Ron’s chest to keep him from attempting to clobber Dean again.

“What are you all up to?” she asked.

“We thought we’d see if we could scrounge up some butterbeer and a bite to eat,” Seamus answered this time. 

“Haven’t you been to the kitchens before, Ron?” Lavender asked.

The thought of food, calmed Ron down quickly. He began to lead the way down to the kitchens. On the way they ran into Luna and Hannah Abbott practicing their Charms homework in an empty classroom.

“Hey, we’re going to nick some food from the kitchens, care to join us?” Neville asked when he saw them. He was not the timid, scared little boy he had once been, he had proven himself a leader the previous year in his crusade against the Carrows, and a true hero when he had killed Nagini in the final battle.

“I am a bit hungry; I wonder if they have any pudding left,” Luna answered in her breezy way.

Luna and Hannah joined the group heading down to the kitchens. When they got there Hermione walked up to the painting and tickled the pear until it turned into the doorknob. She turned it and slowly opened the door. As they entered the warm and cozy kitchen, they were greeted by a chorus of voices practically stumbling over themselves to serve them. Kreacher came forward, followed by Winky, and bowed low before them.

“Is there something we could get for Master Harry’s friends?” he asked. 

“We were hoping we could get a snack together if it’s not too much trouble, Kreacher,” Hermione replied.

“Certainly!” 

And with that House-Elves scurried around the kitchen piling plates high with delectable goodies. Ron whispered to Winky as she hurried past.

“You wouldn’t happen to have any butterbeer, would you?”

“Yes, of course. Winky will get it for you,” she squeaked.

As the friends looked on, Hermione glanced at her watch. 

“We don’t have much time before curfew, and we can’t just take it up to the common room, as Hannah and Luna can’t join us.”

“Why don’t we take everything up to the Room of Requirement?” Neville suggested.

“Do you think it’s still there? That fiendfyre destroyed it during the battle,” Hermione looked at Ron questioningly.

“Oh, yes, Mistress, the Room of Requirement is still working,” Kreacher said as he handed over a tray filled to the brim.

Hermione looked at all of them, and said, “I think the Room of Requirement is the perfect place then, but we’ll need Harry’s map to get back to the dorms afterward without being caught.”

Ron snatched her up and kissed her, “I love it when you break the rules,” he said as he put her back down, “Kreacher, would you please tell that prat of a best mate of mine, that his presence and that of his map is needed in the Room of Requirement?”

“Right away, sir,” Kreacher said, and with that he disapparated. 

~*~

Harry happily had his hands in Ginny’s fiery mane when he heard the pop. He separated himself and looked to see Kreacher standing before them.

“Begging your pardon, Master Harry, but the Weasley and friends have asked that you join them in the Room of Requirement and to bring your map.”

Harry raised an eyebrow, “What are they up to you reckon?” he looked at Ginny, “Thank you, Kreacher.” Kreacher bowed low and then popped back down to the kitchens.

Harry dashed upstairs for the Marauders’ Map and his invisibility cloak, a dash of the old excitement of sneaking out after hours coming back to him, happy that this time, his only worry at being caught would be detention. He met up with Ginny in the common room and they slipped out the portrait hole without anyone noticing they were gone. He put the cloak over the two of them and led the way to the Room of Requirement. When they arrived, he found Neville waiting for them in the hallway. Harry turned to Ginny beneath the cloak and put his finger to his mouth, she nodded and covered hers to stifle a giggle. They tiptoed closer and were just about to rip the cloak off and give Neville a fright when Neville whipped around and pulled it off for them.

“Seven years of watching you slip under that thing under the cover of darkness and feeling you sneak past me, I’ve learned to sense when you’re there,” he said with a smirk. Ginny fell into a fit of laughter at the gobsmacked look on Harry’s face. 

“So much for those stealthy auror skills you’ve been bragging about,” she managed to get out when she caught her breath. 

“What’s going on, anyway? Why are you here, and where are Ron and Hermione?” Harry asked attempting to gloss over the fact he’d been caught, by Neville no less.

“Meeting of the VoH, Harry,” Neville replied.

“VoH?”

“Veterans of Hogwarts of course, first official meeting has been called.”

“And what is the purpose of this meeting?” Harry asked, truly intrigued.

“To have a little fun!” And with that, the door to the room appeared and the three of them entered to find the others already fully enjoying the butterbeers and nosh provided by the House-Elves.

Dean handed Harry and Ginny each a bottle of butterbeer, “Finally broke away from each other to join us, eh?” Neither Harry nor Ginny even bothered to blush, after a year apart; they weren’t going to apologize for enjoying each other’s company. Ginny picked up a sandwich and took a bite as she settled down into one of the comfy chairs that had been supplied by the room.

“So, what are we celebrating?” she asked to the room in general.

“A year without the Carrows,” Neville replied, and everyone raised their bottles and took a swig.

“Being with friends,” was Luna’s response, to which everyone also drank again.

“This delicious spread the House-Elves were so kind to provide for us,” Seamus shouted (he was already on his third butterbeer). 

“Hermione putting the homework aside for a little fun,” Ron said, then dodged as Hermione threw a cushion at him.

Ginny looked at Harry, Ron, and Hermione, and whispered, “All those who survived.”

“The memories of those who didn’t,” Hermione said with a tear as everyone raised their bottles once more towards those they could almost feel in the room with them.

Harry choked a bit as he tried to swallow the smooth liquid past the lump in his throat. It didn’t seem right to be enjoying himself, when so many weren’t able to anymore. Seemingly knowing what was going through his mind, Ron looked at him, then picked up a yellow custard cream and handed it to Harry, “It’ll make you feel better,” he said.

Harry put the cream in his mouth and suddenly turned into a huge yellow canary. Everyone in the room burst into hysterics which is how Harry found them a few seconds later when he returned to himself.

“What was that for?” he sputtered, spitting a feather out of his mouth, causing another fit of laughter.

“George gave them to me, he reckoned there’d be a time when you’d need to lighten up,” Ron said with a smirk once he had gotten his breath back. “Harry, mate, nobody knows better than us how much was lost, but if George can honor Fred’s memory by opening up the store again and moving on, then don’t we owe it to Fred, and Lupin and Tonks and everyone to do the same thing.”

With this, Harry just nodded his head and picked another feather off his tongue. The group ate, drank, and reminisced for hours. It was Hannah who, while trying to stifle a yawn, suggested that perhaps they should head back to their dorms for the evening.

“This has truly been the best time I’ve spent in all my years at Hogwarts,” she began, “and I thank you all for letting me join in, but I don’t think I can stay awake much longer.”

Hermione, who was resting contentedly against Ron’s legs while he ran his fingers through her curls, nodded and looked at her watch, “It’s after midnight; we should turn in.”  
“We should do it again, though,” Parvati said, “We had weekly DA meetings, why not weekly VoH meetings?”

“Next Friday, then?” Seamus confirmed as everyone nodded.

Harry pulled out the map and looked at it, pointing out the best route for Hannah and Luna to get to their dorms without being spotted by Filch or Mrs. Norris who appeared to be the only ones walking the halls that night.

As they bid them farewell, the Gryffindors slowly made their way back to their dorm. The Fat Lady, who it appeared had been partaking in her own revelry, had to be poked and prodded to awaken and let them back in. Harry and Ron quickly kissed Ginny and Hermione before heading up the stairs to their dorm and collapsing in their four posters. As Harry waved his wand to close the curtains around him, he finally felt as though, maybe, just maybe, they’d all be able to put the past behind them and move on.


	4. Happy Christmas

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The VoH meet for the final time prior to the holidays.

News of the VoH had spread among the other former members of the DA and it wasn’t long before it was accepted that Friday nights were spent in the Room of Requirement. Kreacher had begun having food and drinks ready in the room waiting for them when they arrived. Harry and Ron had taken advantage of the first Hogsmeade weekend and acquired some firewhisky to go along with the butterbeers. They snuck it in and hid it in the room. The room had provided plenty of seats and a wireless. Everyone would talk, eat, drink, and practice any of the new spells they’d learned during the week. Neville, Luna, and Ginny would recount some of their adventures in dealing with the Carrows. And after a few shots of firewhisky, tales from the Trio’s year roaming the countryside came easily, although they stayed clear of the sticky subjects like Ron walking out on them, and Malfoy Manor. A favorite of everyone’s was the tale of escaping Gringott’s on the dragon. Ron told the story best, and amazingly didn’t need to exaggerate too much to make it interesting.

“Oooh, what did that evil woman taste like?” Hannah asked Hermione when Ron had gotten to the part where she drank the polyjuice potion.

“It was awful, worse than Gurdyroots,” Hermione replied pulling a face as she remembered, “Harry tasted much better.”

And with that they were distracted away from the dragon story, which had already been told a dozen times and heard the tale of the Order retrieving Harry from the Dursleys for the first time.

“Blimey, seven Harry Potters flying through the air. Bloody brilliant, that,” Seamus whispered, “Who came up with that idea?” 

“Dumbledore,” Harry replied.

“Dumbledore? But he was already dead, how could he have?” Hannah asked with a puzzled look on her face. She turned to Neville who was sitting next to her to see if he understood. He simply shrugged.

“Snape discussed it with his portrait in the Headmaster’s office. Snape is the one who confunded Mundungus into saying the idea was his.”

“I still find it hard to believe that Snape was trying to help you all those years,” Neville said, with a shake of his head. “I can’t say I’ll ever look back on him fondly, although, I do still find that picture of him in my Gran’s hat and purse rather amusing. But I no longer think of him as evil now that I know he was trying to help Harry and Dumbledore.”

“Snape was the bravest man I knew. I only wish I had known it earlier,” Harry said quietly. “If ever there was someone sorted into the wrong house, he was.”

He had only divulged the full extent of Snape’s memories to Ginny, Ron, and Hermione. He had been instrumental in having Snape’s portrait added to the wall of the Headmistress’ office. He felt that he deserved that honor. He had not yet been to see him, however. 

~*~

As the days grew shorter and the holidays grew closer there was a feeling of anticipation running through the school once again. Very few people would be staying at Hogwarts over the break this year, though. More than ever, the importance of spending such times with family seemed to be in the forefront of everyone’s minds. So it was that Ron and Hermione were in an out right row on their way to the final VoH meeting before the holidays.

“Hermione, it’s our first Christmas together, the first one since the war, don’t you think we should spend it together?” Ron whined once again.

Hermione stopped and turned to him with an exasperated look on her face, “I am fully aware that it is our first Christmas together, Ronald, and I would love to spend it with you. But as I’ve said repeatedly, I have spent almost every Christmas with you and your family since I started school, and it is important to me that I spend this one with my family. We did not have much time to spend together after we returned from Australia before I came back to school. I’ve missed them terribly, and I think it’s only fair that I spend this holiday with them.”

“But it won’t seem like Christmas without you there! Harry’s going to be there.”

“Harry doesn’t have anyone else to share it with, Ron. And I don’t appreciate you making me feel guilty for wanting to spend Christmas with my family when you clearly aren’t willing to be away from yours.”

“Well, of course I can’t miss Christmas with my family, we weren’t together last Christmas, and this is the first one since Fred…” his voice drifted off.

“And I haven’t been with my family on Christmas for years, Ron. I’m not asking you to be away from your family, I know it’s important for you to be there, but it’s important to my family to have me there, too.”

With that she walked off toward the Room of Requirement leaving Ron standing there watching her go. He jogged to catch up with her, but she was already through the door when she stopped and let out a small gasp. The sight before her was overwhelming; there was a huge Christmas tree in one corner, decorated in the colours of all the houses, as well as streamers and balloons in all the colours as well. Christmas music was playing softly in the background. The table was draped with fabric and covered in more delicious goodies than normal and seemed to be bowing down with the sheer weight of the food.

Ron let out a soft whistle, “Wow, the room really out did itself this time didn’t it?”

“It wasn’t the room,” Neville said from the table where the drinks were, behind which Hannah was standing, looking quite festive in her Christmas jumper. “Hannah did it all,” he looked at her and beamed, whilst she in turn blushed fiercely.

“I just wanted to make tonight special. This is the first holiday since we lost so many people, and the first is always the hardest,” she said quietly, “Can I get you something to drink?” She waved her hand over the table that was filled with an assortment of different libations.

“Everything looks lovely, Hannah. I’ll just have some eggnog, thank you,” Hermione said. She took the drink Hannah offered and walked over toward the Christmas tree to admire it, thoroughly ignoring Ron.

“What can I get you?” Hannah asked Ron who was staring after Hermione.

“Firewhisky,” he said gruffly.

“Everything okay, Ron?” Neville asked observing the silent feud between the two.

“Hmmm? Oh, yeah, just a row over where to spend Christmas. Hermione is insisting she spend it with her family, but I want her to come to the Burrow. It’s going to be right hard to get through this holiday as it is, I was hoping she’d be there to help.”

“Well, I can certainly understand why you would want her with you, but I can see why she would want to spend time with her family as well. Can’t you work out a compromise of some kind? Perhaps the two of you can spend Christmas Eve with her family, and Christmas Day with yours?” Hannah replied with a kind smile.

“I never thought about that. Brilliant idea, Hannah,” Ron replied as he left with his firewhisky to talk to Hermione.

“You’re quite good at that,” Neville said, looking at her.

“What?”

“Solving other people’s problems.”

“Sometimes it takes an objective view to see the obvious,” she said with a shrug, “people tend to make things much harder than they need to be. Particularly those two.” She winked at him and refilled his eggnog glass.

“Thanks. What are your plans for the holidays, then?” he asked her.

“Oh, Dad and I are going to visit my grandparents in Kent. It’s still too hard for him to spend Christmas at home without Mum,” she said with a sad little smile, “What will you be doing?”

“Same as usual, Christmas Eve with Gran at home, and Christmas Day we’ll go to St. Mungo’s to see Mum and Dad.” Neville had confided in Hannah his parents’ conditions recently. She nodded and gave his arm a small squeeze as she smiled warmly at him. 

Neville felt a warmth spread through him as she did so, and smiled back at her, he was just about to ask her to dance, when she turned to Dean and Luna, who had just arrived together, along with Seamus and Lavender. She offered them something to drink and continued playing hostess. He sat down on the couch near the fireplace, close to the Christmas tree, from this position he could hear Ron and Hermione’s conversation.

“…so, you’ll join me at Mum and Dad’s for Christmas Eve?” Hermione was saying.

“Yeah, and then you and your family could come to the Burrow for Christmas dinner,” he replied.

“Do you think your mum would mind all of us coming?”

“Are you kidding? She’ll be so thankful for the additional people. Mum does best when she’s taking care of others, and it will help her not to dwell on Fred not being there.”

“Well, it does seem to be the best solution. But perhaps you should owl your mum and make sure it’s okay before I mention it to my parents.”

“I’ll go owl her now. I know she’ll be fine with it though,” Ron said giving Hermione a quick kiss as he headed toward the owlery to find Pig. He waved to Harry and Ginny as he passed them about to enter the room.

“Where are you going?” Harry asked. He had heard the two bickering as they left the common room and was worried that he was once again going to be in the middle of an epic Ron and Hermione row.

“Owlery. Need to ask Mum if the Grangers can come for Christmas dinner,” he replied as he rushed off.

“Well, I can’t say that they fight any less, but at least they blow over quickly now,” Ginny said with a grin.

Harry nodded, thankful that she was right. His two best friends bickered only slightly less than they had before, but the arguments usually ended quickly and with a good snog, so Harry didn’t have to worry about dealing with the two giving each other the silent treatment for too long.

Harry and Ginny entered the room and were also mesmerized by the decorations. Several people were dancing to the music, including Parvati and Terry Boot along with Padma and Anthony Goldstein. Most of the Gryffindors were sitting near the fire quietly discussing their plans for the holidays, Harry noted that Dean and Luna were sitting quite close together, and it was hard to miss the fact that Lavender was sitting on Seamus’ lap telling Neville all about the ski trip she was going on with her family.

“Seamus is going to come up for the day, aren’t you?” she said turning to him.

“I’ll come up, but you won’t get me on any sticks and push me down a hill!” 

“It’s really not that bad, Seamus,” Hermione said coming over and sitting down beside Neville, “It can be quite exhilarating to have the wind in your face as you zip down the slopes. I recommend a few beginner lessons though.”

“Nah, I’ll just enjoy the fire and a Hot Toddy, thank you very much.”

“Oh, I’ll get him to come down the slopes with me, I have my ways,” Lavender said with a grin and a wink.

Ginny wandered over to talk with Dean and Luna, and Harry sat down next to Hermione on the couch. He put his arm around her and gave her a quick hug in hello.

“Well, this spat with Ron didn’t last too long, I see,” he said with a smirk.

“Shut it, you,” she said slapping him playfully, “I hope that Mrs. Weasley says it’s okay for all of us to come over. I didn’t really want to be away from everyone for Christmas, but it only seems fair to spend it with my family this year. I love my family as much as Ron loves his, but I’ve really pushed them aside all these years, and after all I’ve put them through and all the changes, I think it’s time to be with them. Why I didn’t come up with the idea of trying to do both, I don’t know.”

Harry chuckled, “Because you over analyze every situation instead of looking for the easiest solution?”

Hermione looked like she was going to get angry, and then burst out laughing. 

“Yes, I do.”

Ginny looked over at the two of them on the couch, Harry’s arm slung casually over the back, laughing in a way she hadn’t seen them do in a long time. She smiled and walked over to them.

“It’s good to see the two of you laughing. But, get your own boyfriend, I’m stealing mine back for a dance.” She reached down and pulled Harry to his feet.

“She’s got a boyfriend,” Ron said as he leaned over the back of the couch, “that is if she’ll still have me.” 

“Oh, you can’t get rid of me that easily,” she turned her head and kissed him on the cheek, “but you must dance with me, too.”

Ron grimaced but allowed himself to be dragged onto the dance floor. He wasn’t a particularly good dancer, but he couldn’t complain about holding Hermione in his arms. He just tried to make sure he didn’t step on her feet.

Neville turned and saw that Hannah was talking with Susan Bones, but as everyone seemed to have had their fill of food and drink was no longer lingering near the table. He decided to take his chance.

“Hannah, would you care to dance with me?” he said with a slight blush.

“I’d love to, Neville,” she replied, handing Susan her own glass of eggnog, and taking Neville’s hand. 

The night passed quickly as everyone enjoyed themselves, and before long, the cuckoo clock in the corner was chirping midnight. Harry pulled out the map and started directing others toward their dorms as Neville and Dean were helping Hannah take down the decorations and send the leftover food down to the kitchens. Harry was telling Hannah the best route to the Hufflepuff dorms when Neville came up behind them.

“I’ll walk her, Harry, you go on back.”

“Are you sure, Neville? You won’t have the map.”

Neville glanced at the map, “It doesn’t appear there are many people patrolling tonight, and it’s not like I’m scared of a little detention,” he said with a grin.

“Fair enough. See you back in the dorm,” Harry said as he took Ginny’s hand and followed Ron and Hermione out the door.

“Neville, you don’t have to walk me. I’ll be fine.”

“I’m sure you will be, but I’d like to if you’ll let me,” he said looking down at her, looking a little more like the Neville he’d been before the Department of Mysteries, and a year with the Carrows, with uncertainty in his eyes. She smiled up at him and noticed something hovering over his head.

“Well, you’ll have to do something for me first,” she said with tilt of her head.

“What’s that?”

She pointed up and he looked up to see mistletoe that had suddenly appeared over them.

“Oh…er…um…okay.”

He leant down and softly kissed her on the cheek.

“Now, Neville, that’s how you’d kiss your grandmother. Not a very good Christmas kiss,” she said as she reached up and pulled him closer so that she could brush her lips against his. He put his arms around her waist and pulled her closer. They slowly broke apart, and he looked into her eyes which were shining in the candlelight.

“Much better. Happy Christmas, Neville.”

“Happy Christmas, Hannah.” 

Then he took her hand and walked her to the entrance of the Hufflepuff dormitories. He softly kissed her again and bid her good night. As he turned to head toward his own dorm, he thought to himself, “Happy Christmas, indeed.”


	5. Midnight Discussions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hermione and Harry find themselves awake in the middle of the night.

The Christmas holidays had come and gone, and everyone was back at school, fully engrossed in classes and studying for their N.E.W.T.s. The stress was taking its toll on Hermione and she awoke with a start, her breathing ragged and her heart slamming away in her chest. It had been weeks since she’d had the nightmare, but she wondered if she’d ever fully be rid of it. She sat up in her bed and tried to push the visions of Bellatrix pointing her wand at her and Ron’s panicked voice screaming her name aside. She pulled the curtains aside. The shimmering light of the moon was casting its glow across the floor through the window. She glanced over to see her roommates all sleeping peacefully. She lay back down in an attempt to fall back to sleep, but the uneasy feeling just wouldn’t let her be. What she wanted and needed most right now was to feel Ron’s strong arms around her. After debating it in her mind for a few minutes she decided to sneak into the boys’ dormitories and ask him to join her in the common room for a bit. She pulled her dressing gown on and slid her feet into her slippers and quietly eased open the door and crept down the stairs. She was surprised to see the flickering light of a fire reflecting on the wall as she neared the entrance to the common room. She whispered lumos and looked at her watch, 3:02. The fire should have died long ago. She peered out from the staircase and saw a lone figure sitting on the couch in front of the fire. Though she couldn’t see them, she knew the green eyes were staring, not seeing the orange flames dancing. She wondered what had him up at this late hour. Thoughts of waking Ron left her as she made her way over and sat down next to him, not speaking. She stared at the fire as well and saw him look at her from the corner of her eye. His sigh made her turn and look at him.

“It’s been a while since we were up at this hour together,” he said quietly.

She nodded, thinking back to those long nights when they would take turns keeping watch during the night. Most nights they would shift their duties without a word, but occasionally they had talked quietly before separating so that one could head into a fitful sleep. 

“I haven’t seen you brooding like this for a while,” she said.

“You haven’t been up at 3am then,” he said with a slight smile that did not reach his eyes. She looked a little startled at this comment. He seemed to have been doing so well, but now that she thought about it, he still had dark circles under his eyes, where Ron’s had faded away with the months of sleeping soundly. She silently berated herself for not seeing it sooner. She’d been so wrapped up in her studies, and Ron, she had failed to see that he hadn’t been sleeping. She wondered, too, if Ginny was aware. When they were all together, he laughed and joked and snogged, and it appeared he was doing fine. Seeing him sitting here though, she knew that he’d been putting up a front for everyone and she had failed to see it.

Before she could say anything, though, he spoke again, “What does have you up at this hour?” he was looking at her with concern.

“Oh, it was nothing, really, just a bad dream. Does Ron know you haven’t been sleeping? Or Ginny?” she tried to turn it back on him. He wasn’t falling for it so easily, though.

“What was the dream about, Hermione?”

Knowing he wasn’t going to let up, she sighed, “Same as always. It doesn’t come as often anymore, but I’ve been stressed with N.E.W.T.s and I think that must have something to do with it.”

“I’m sorry, Hermione. It was all my fault, if I hadn’t been so daft, I wouldn’t have broken the taboo and they wouldn’t have found us and brought us there, you wouldn’t have been tortured, Dobby might still be alive and—“

“Stop it! Harry I’ve never blamed you for that. Luna and Mr. Ollivander may have died if we hadn’t been taken there. That alone makes it worth it,” she reached for his hand and took it, “Harry, you really must stop blaming yourself, it’s not healthy.”

“They all died because of me, Hermione. How can I not blame myself?”

“They died fighting for a cause they believed in, Harry, and contrary to what your ego may think, that cause was not necessarily you,” she said with an exasperated sigh.

“Ego? You think this is about my ego?”

“Harry, we all love you, and think the world of you, but we were fighting and risking our lives to rid the world of Voldemort. The fact that you were the one who was destined to defeat him, that just meant that we had to do our best to support you. What if it had been Neville who was the Chosen One? Not you? Do you think we wouldn’t have all been there fighting the evil that was Voldemort just because it was him? Would he have been ‘less worthy’ of our support than you? Damn it, Harry, I love you like a brother, but I think this ‘Saviour of the Wizarding World’ bunk has gone to your head.”

Harry looked genuinely surprised to hear the language she had used. He must have really touched a nerve, “I don’t think of myself as the ‘Saviour of the Wizarding World’ that comes from the Prophet. And you know I don’t like it.”

“No? I think it allows you to feel sorry for yourself. I think it lets you put a shield up so that you don’t have to get too close. I don’t know that I blame you, really. So many of those you love died fighting for the cause. But you can’t live your life waiting for the other shoe to drop, Harry. I can’t promise that nothing bad will ever happen again. But if you spend your life afraid to reach out and embrace it completely, then what kind of life will it be?” 

Harry was quiet for a few minutes as he sat thinking about all that she had said. “You know, you really are an insufferable know-it-all. I don’t know how to stop feeling like this, though.” He looked at her with confusion and despair. She reached out and took hold of his hand.

“Well, for once I don’t know the answer, either,” she said with a sigh, “I’ve done some reading, though. There’s a muggle condition called, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder that can occur after situations like what we’ve been through. I’ve talked with Professor Kibitzer about it a few times myself. You’re not the only one who has healing to do. Professor Kibitzer is easy to talk to, and I think she could help you to get past all of this.”

Harry looked at her skeptically, “You want me to go and talk to some stranger? What good would that do?”

“I think you’ll be surprised. She’s trained to know how to handle this, and sometimes, talking to a stranger is easier than talking to a friend,” she squeezed his hand again, “although I’m always here to listen if you need an ear.”

She leaned over and put her head on his shoulder. Her eyes started to droop as she gazed at the flames that were blurring more and more by the second. She was startled, what seemed like just a few minutes later, when she heard Ron’s voice bellowing.

“OI! What the bloody hell is going on here?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been keeping this story fairly fluffy, but it needed a little drama. I hope I handle it well. Fluff comes easily, angst...not so much.


	6. Boys and Their Egos

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hermione and Harry awake the next morning to Ron's temper.

Hermione and Harry jumped at the sound of Ron’s voice, both startled awake. Hermione turned to see Ron standing at the bottom of the steps a mixture of fury and hurt on his face. 

“Bugger!” Harry exclaimed while letting go of Hermione’s hand that he was still holding. “Ron, it’s not what it looks like.”

“It looks like you were sleeping with my girlfriend,” Ron said in a dangerously quiet voice. Harry made as if to speak again when Hermione put her hand on his arm.

“I’ll handle him, you go talk to Ginny,” she said as she nodded her head toward the bottom of the steps to the girls’ dormitories where Ginny stood with an unreadable expression on her face. 

Harry sighed as he walked over to Ginny. “Hi, Gin. Look, there was nothing going on over there, Hermione is just a friend.”

“I know nothing happened,” she said, but she still looked slightly hurt.

“Then why do you look like that?”

“Did you talk to her about why you haven’t been sleeping?”

“She came downstairs and found me awake. You know Hermione; I couldn’t get out of talking to her.”

“Yes, but you won’t talk to me about it, even though I’ve asked you over and over. Why can’t you let me in?” Ginny said with just a hint of a quiver in her voice.

Harry reached out and pulled her to an isolated corner of the common room. There he held her to him tightly. 

“Ginny, I’m not trying to shut you out. I’ve told you everything that happened last year. I didn’t want to talk to Hermione about it. She’s just really good at guessing. She thinks I think too highly of myself, and I should just ease up. It’s not that easy to do, though. She suggested I speak to Professor Kibitzer. I don’t know though.”

“You can’t keep going on the way you have been, Harry. I want you to talk to me about it, but if you can’t maybe speaking to someone who can help you put things in perspective might help,” she looked up at him, “You’re the strongest, bravest man I know, Harry. Asking for help doesn’t make you weak.”

“I’ve asked for help loads of times, Gin.”

“No, Harry, you really haven’t. You’ve been forced to accept help loads of times, but you rarely ask for it. You’re too damn proud to ask for help, even when you need it. You don’t have to do everything alone.”

“Here’s another girl telling me I need to check my ego at the door,” Harry said, rolling his eyes.

“Well, if that’s what you and Hermione were talking about last night, then maybe I should thank her. It’s about time someone called you on it.” 

Harry just shook his head and looked down at Ginny, “Are we okay, then?”

“Well, we’re a sight better than those two,” she answered waving her hand at Ron and Hermione who were standing shouting at each other.

“If you want to be with Harry, fine, but don’t go sneaking around in the middle of the night, and then pretend everything is fine during the day,” Ron was exclaiming, he opened his mouth to say something more.

“Silencio!” Hermione said with her wand aimed at him, “You will listen to me, Ronald Weasley and listen good,” she said her voice full of exasperation, “Nothing happened with Harry. I had a nightmare. I couldn’t go back to sleep. I was actually coming to find you, but Harry was sitting in the common room all alone. I sat down, and we started talking. Did you know he hasn’t been sleeping well?” she looked at him, but without his voice all he could do was shake his head, “I didn’t think so,” she continued on, “My friend was upset, so I sat with him and I talked with him. And then I fell asleep. I will not apologise for being a good friend. I don’t want to have to constantly reassure you that you are the one for me. I chose you…no, I take that back.” 

Ron’s eyes grew wide as the meaning of her words started to sink in, he reached out and tried to speak but was still mute. 

“Saying I chose you implies that Harry was even an option, and he never has been, Ron. He’s like a brother to me, the thought of dating him is about as appealing to me as dating Ginny would be to you.” 

Ron pulled another face at the thought of dating his sister. Hermione closed the gap between them, put her hands on his chest and looked into his eyes.

“I love you, Ronald Weasley. I’ve tried not to, but it’s just no use. You’re stuck with me. You’re just going to have to learn how to deal with the fact that I’m not going to stop being friends with Harry, or anyone else for that matter, just because I’m with you.” 

She looked up at him, expectantly, waiting for him to answer. He crossed his arms over his chest and just looked at her. Suddenly, she blushed, raised her wand, and uttered, “Finite Incantatem.” 

“That’s not very fair, Hermione,” he said slightly disgruntled but continued, “I’m sorry. It’s just that I can hardly believe that you want to be with me. I’m always waiting for you to realize you’ve made this horrible mistake.” He looked down at her and put his hand to her cheek, “I’ll try not to be such a prat.”

Hermione reached up and pulled his head closer and brushed her lips against his, “You’re my prat, though.” Then she started to laugh. Ron looked at her with a puzzled expression.

“What’s so funny?”

“The irony of it all…I spent last night telling Harry he thinks too much of himself, and now I’m trying to convince you to think more of yourself. Boys!” she exclaimed with a shake of her head.

Harry and Ginny made their way over to where Ron and Hermione were standing.

“Everything okay?” Harry asked looking at Ron.

“Yeah, sorry about earlier, mate,” he turned to the others, “I’m starving. Breakfast?” Ron asked.

“Well, I need to get dressed, first. Give me ten minutes,” Hermione said as she quickly kissed Ron and headed up the stairs to the dorm. 

“Me, too,” Harry said as he dashed up the boys’ stairs to change.

Ten minutes later, the four of them headed toward the Great Hall for breakfast.


	7. Moving On

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The group discuss their plans for after Hogwarts.

The months passed quickly as everyone studied and prepared for their N.E.W.T.s. Before they knew it, they found themselves in the Room of Requirement for the final time before the exams. Everyone looked quite harried and the conversations had turned toward their plans after leaving Hogwarts.

“I saw Gwenog Jones at the last Quidditch match,” Hannah was saying, “What did she say when she came up to you afterward, Ginny?”

Ginny flushed the typical Weasley red, “Nothing, really.”

“Nothing?” Harry said with a grin, “I hardly call asking you to try out for the Harpies, nothing.”

“She didn’t?!” Parvati said with a gasp, “Oh, Ginny, that’s amazing. You will, won’t you?”

“Of course, she’s going to try out,” Harry said looking her straight in the eye. They’d already had this conversation several times, with Ginny going back and forth over whether professional Quidditch was the right career for her. “She’s going to need something to keep her busy while I’m away at Auror training.” 

A cloud passed over Ginny’s face as she thought of Harry being away from her for three whole years at training. The same cloud passed over Hermione’s face when she thought of Ron being gone that long as well. Seeing the look pass over her face Ron squeezed the hand that he was already holding. They too had had this conversation several times. He’d considered not going into the training. The thought of being away from Hermione for so long made him ill. Hermione wouldn’t hear of it though.

“You’ve worked so hard, Ron, and you deserve the chance to pursue this,” she had said to him, “I’ll miss you terribly of course, but you will have breaks and we can owl each other. I’d never forgive myself if you put your dreams aside for me.”

Ron had looked at her and implored her again to join him and Harry in training. The head of the Auror department had invited the three of them to attend. 

“Are you sure you don’t want to come, too?”

“As tempting as it is to go off with my boys again, I’ve spent more than enough time fighting Dark Wizards, thank you very much,” she said with a slight laugh, “I think I’ll be much happier helping to make the laws rather than enforcing them.”

Ron was brought back to the present by Neville asking him a question.

“I’m sorry, Neville, I didn’t catch that,” he said turning his attention to his friend.

“I was saying that it would be just you and Harry at Auror training then, right?” Neville repeated.

“Yes, Hermione has decided she wants to attend University instead.”

“There is one in London that offers both Muggle and Wizarding courses, Penrose University. It’s quite an ingenious design really. It allows Wizarding students to take Muggle courses in literature and such. Some of the Muggle students have magical family members and therefore can take some of the classes about Wizarding history and whatnot. This way I’ll be able to study magical law and then hopefully I’ll be able to join the Ministry and help with rewriting some of the laws that are so archaic,” Hermione said.

Ron beamed at the look on her face, always out to right the wrongs of the world, she was. 

“What about you, Neville? What are your plans after Hogwarts?” Hermione asked.

“Professor Sprout has gotten me position with Tilden Toots, the radio personality and Herbology expert. You know the one who hosts ‘Toots, Shoots ‘n’ Roots’ on the Wireless. I’m not entirely sure what I’ll be doing for him, but it sounds interesting, and I know I’ll be helping with the show some.”

“Oh, Neville, that sounds fascinating, and I think it’s the perfect job for you,” Hermione smiled at him.

The discussion continued. Dean had been accepted to an art school where he could study both Muggle and Magical techniques, Luna was going to help her father at the Quibbler for the time being. Seamus had been offered a position at Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes by George, Lavender would be working at Madam Malkins not far away, allowing them the opportunity to still be near each other. Hannah was unsure of what to do yet, and she too was planning on taking some classes at Penrose.

As Hannah looked around the room at her friends and sighed. She had truly enjoyed these evenings with them. It was the bright spot in her week, aside from the moments she was able to spend with Neville, being able to come here and just be herself. She had taken on the role of hostess, making sure everyone had what they needed, and reminded them to come again if they’d missed a meeting. She would miss this most after leaving Hogwarts. Soon everyone would be off, working, studying, all over and it made her sad that they wouldn’t have this opportunity anymore. She looked up at Neville, who was sitting next to her and holding her hand. Suddenly an idea came to her.

“I’ve enjoyed these VoH meetings, so much,” she began, “I hate to see them go.” 

The others in the room nodded in agreement, so she went on, “I know that soon we’ll all be scattered here and there doing our own things, but I would love to be able to continue this even after we’ve left Hogwarts. Perhaps not every week, but once a month, those of us who are available could get together?”

She looked around hopefully, “I think that’s a wonderful, idea, Hannah,” Hermione replied, “And we’ll have to get together for lunch at school, as well,” she said with a smile.

“What about the third Friday of every month? We can take turns planning where, and whoever is able to join us is welcome to join.” Hannah suggested, “I’ll take the first one in July, then. I’ll owl everyone the time and place and hopefully you’ll all be able to come, since no one will have left for school or training yet.”

“Sounds wonderful, Hannah, of course we’ll be there,” Luna said. Everyone agreed to taking turns hosting the meetings.

Neville wrapped his arm around Hannah’s shoulder and leaned down to whisper in her ear, “You really are wonderful at keeping everyone together and taking care of everyone. It’s one of the things I love about you.”

She smiled up at him and kissed him on the cheek, “Thank you.”

It wasn’t much later that everyone decided to return to their dormitories. They needed their rest to prepare for the N.E.W.T.s the next week. As they were heading back toward Gryffindor Tower, Hermione was mumbling under her breath, repeating spells, and practicing wand strokes that she thought might be on the exams.

Ron just shook his head, knowing better than to attempt to stop her. He’d already had his head bitten off more than once this week, and besides, he was too busy listening and watching to say anything, silently taking it all in. He was more than slightly anxious about the exams himself. He and Harry had been offered spots in the Auror school in Ireland, but he was afraid if he did poorly on the exams, they would take the offer back.

“I don’t know how I’ll ever sleep tonight,” Hermione said, “my mind is flying faster than a Firebolt right now.”

“I’ve studied more in the last few weeks than I have the previous six years here at Hogwarts,” Ginny said, “I’ll be glad when these exams are over, my eyes can hardly focus anymore.”

“We can stay up a bit if you want,” Ron said as he moved aside to let Hermione and Ginny enter the common room through the portrait hole.

Hermione shook her head, “No, I really should be getting to bed. I can read my notes from History of Magic in bed.”

“That’ll put you to sleep for sure, then,” Harry said with a wink toward Ron, who chuckled and bent down to kiss Hermione good night.

“I’ll see you in the morning then, sleep well,” he leaned in closer and whispered in her ear, “you know where to find me if you need me.” He pulled back and looked her in the eyes. The nightmares had been more and more frequent with the added stress of the exams looming over them.

“I do. Thank you,” she kissed him gently on the lips, “I love you.”

“Love you, too,” he whispered, and then turned and went up the stairs to the boys’ dorms.

“I’ll be right up, Hermione,” Ginny called as Hermione headed up the stairs. She turned to Harry; he had been sleeping better these past few months, after taking Hermione’s and Ginny’s advice and talking with Professor Kibitzer. “I’m going to go to bed, too. Sleep well,” she raised up on her toes to give him a quick kiss, but before she could pull away, Harry wrapped his arms around her and pulled her closer. Ginny felt her knees go weak, but it didn’t matter because Harry had a firm grip and wouldn’t let her fall. They stood in front of the portrait hole kissing for several minutes when Neville scrambled through, looking slightly dishevelled himself after having walked Hannah back to her dorm.

“Erm…sorry, didn’t mean to interrupt. Carry on,” he laughed as he dodged them and headed for the stairs.

Ginny took the distraction as an opportunity to separate herself from Harry. “As lovely as that was, dear, I really am tired. I will see you in the morning. Sweet dreams,” she turned and started to walk away.

“No good night kiss?” Harry asked imploringly.

“Sorry, love, that one will have to do, if I were to give you another, you’d want another, and then another, and well…we’d never get any sleep,” she said with a wink and a smile.

“Would that be so bad?” he chuckled taking a step closer.

“Patience, Harry, is a virtue.”

“But it’s no fun being virtuous,” he said taking yet another step. 

“Good night, Harry,” and this time she disappeared up the stairs with a wink and a wave.

He watched her as she made her way around the curve in the staircase and then turned with a sigh towards his own.

When Ginny got to the top of the stairs and entered the room, she shared with the other seventh years she saw that Hermione was already dressed in her pyjamas and indeed reading A History of Magic. 

“Don’t you have that book memorized yet?” she said with a smile.

“I really need to know the history of all the laws that have already been written if I’m going to go about writing some of my own.”

“And the courses you plan to study at the university won’t teach you what you need to know?” Ginny walked over and sat on the edge of Hermione’s bed and sighed.

“What’s wrong?”

“I know that Harry going to Auror training is for the best. But how am I going to survive three years of being apart from him? The last time we were apart nearly killed me.”

“Ginny, first of all, you know they are completely different things. The last time you were apart, you had no idea where he was, what he was doing, or whether he’d survive it. Now at least you’ll be able to owl and see each other on breaks. But it will be incredibly hard, I know. I’ve only ever been apart from Ron for a few months at a time. The thought of only seeing him sporadically over the next three years depresses me. You will of course make the Harpies team and be kept quite busy with practices and travelling. I’ll only have my studies to keep me company. I’m afraid, it’ll be very much the way it was before I ever came to Hogwarts,” it was now Hermione’s turn to sigh.

Ginny looked at her best friend and decided then and there, that they were not going to turn into two lovesick girls who had nothing better to do than to sit and mope about because their boyfriends were gone. An idea that had occurred to her before, but she had yet to verbalize came to the forefront.

“Hermione, what would you say to the two of us getting a flat together?”

“You don’t want to stay at the Burrow?”

Ginny laughed, “I’m sure my mother would like nothing better, but the time I had to spend at home last year was enough to cure me of ever wanting to have to live there permanently again. Don’t get me wrong,” Ginny quickly added when Hermione looked slightly aghast at this confession, “I adore my parents, but after being away for the majority of the year here at Hogwarts for the past seven years, and not having my mother question every bloody thing I do, the thought of being under her roof and having to follow her rules is less than appealing.”

Hermione thought about this for a moment, and realized that while she, too missed her parents when she was away from them, and was thrilled to have them back home, the time spent at home with them she did often feel as if she were treated like a child. After all she had been through over the past eight years she began to wonder if her plan to live at home and go to school was such a wise one.

“You may have a point, Ginny,” a smile crept up on her face as another benefit to having their own place popped into her mind, “and for those occasions when the boys are able to get away from Ireland, it would be nice to have a place with no parents around to get…er…reacquainted.”

Now the grin on Ginny’s face grew wide, “You know, Hermione, there’s a reason they call you the ‘brightest witch of our age’.”

“It’s settled then. We’ll go home and spend some time with our families, and then you and I will go hunting for a flat.”

“I suppose it should wait until I have found out whether or not I have a job,” Ginny said with a sigh. She knew that Hermione had received a scholarship to the university, and quite a hefty sum from the ministry for her part in bringing down Voldemort. 

“You’ll make the team, Gin. I’m sure of it.”

“We’ll see. Let me try out for the team, first,” she said with a laugh, “then if I make the team, you and I will go searching for that flat.”

“Deal!” Hermione held her hand out to Ginny to seal it. Ginny reached out and shook her hand.

“Deal,” Ginny got up from Hermione’s bed and walked over to her trunk to pull out her own pyjamas. As she climbed into bed, she waved her wand to extinguish the lamp beside it and flicked it again to close the curtains around her. “Good night, Hermione.”

“Good night, Gin,” Hermione said as she settled back in and began to read some more. It did not take long for her eyes to grow heavy and her head to begin to nod. She fell asleep somewhere in the midst of the goblin rebellion.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I never envisioned this as a long drawn out story, but as foundation for some other ideas I've had. Whether I include those ideas within the framework of this story or as companion pieces remains to be seen. I am thankful for the HP Lexicon for helping me with my vision of what some of our friends would do after Hogwarts. I have always envisioned Hermione continuing her education beyond Hogwarts, but was having a difficult time finding any evidence that this was possible. I decided to use a little creative license and create my own university, but what to name it? It was on the Lexicon where I discovered Professor Phoebus Penrose, who produced a report entitled, A Study into Muggle Suspicions About Magic. Who better to have founded a university to cross over the boundaries of the Muggle and Wizarding world? And it was also on the Lexicon that I found Tilden Toots, with whom Neville will be working. A big thank you to all who continue to read.


	8. At the Leaky

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The first post-Hogwarts meeting of the VoH is held at the Leaky Cauldron.

Hannah Abbott awoke with the covers twisted around her feet as she had tried to kick them off during the night. The early morning light filtered through the drawn, dark curtains giving just enough light for her to make out the features of her new room. She stretched slowly and disentangled herself from the sheets. She got up and walked across the room and opened the draperies to let the breeze, that was trying to fight its way past them, in. Her blonde hair was already in tight curls from the humidity. It had been usually warm the past few days, even for July. She glanced at the clock set on the dresser across from the bed. Her shift was due to begin in thirty minutes downstairs. She quickly dressed in a set of royal blue robes that made her own blue eyes shine and pulled her hair back in a tidy twist. With a wave of her wand she made her bed and took one last glance around the small room that Tom the barman had given her when he had taken her on as help for the Leaky Cauldron. It was a tiny room, just enough room for her bed and dresser, but it did have its own water closet adjacent to it, also small, but functional. The room was located on the third floor, above the guest rooms, which made the already hot summer even less bearable. She left the window open in an attempt to keep the air in her room from becoming stifling.

She made her way down the three flights of rickety stairs to the dining room of the inn casting dusting charms on the stairs and paintings hanging on the wall as she went. 

A painting of a rather buxom lady in old fashioned robes watched as she went by and said, “’bout time someone dusted us. When I ran this pub, I dusted every day, not every other.”

Hannah simply rolled her eyes at the previous proprietor and continued into the kitchen where she made herself a quick breakfast of eggs and toast along with a cup of tea. When she finished, she grabbed an apron from the back of the swinging door and went out into the dining room where the first guests were gathering for breakfast of their own. She smiled as she greeted them and took their order. Tom nodded toward her as she gave the order to the cook. He was unloading crates of butterbeer and firewhisky to put behind the bar.

“It’s still all right for my friends to meet in the back room tonight, isn’t it, Tom?” she asked.

“Yes, yes, of course. No one else has reserved the room for tonight, it’s all yours,” he replied.

Hannah smiled as she thanked him once again for allowing her to have the room for the first VoH post-Hogwarts meeting. She had owled everyone earlier in the week to let them know that they would be meeting at the Leaky Cauldron at 8 o’clock in the evening. She made note to clean the room herself today. 

As the day wore on, the heat and humidity began to take its toll on the patrons of the pub. Tempers were beginning to flare as a group of rowdy wizards came in looking for some refreshment only to find their usual table already taken by some Ministry workers. Hannah watched as one who appeared to be the leader of the group walked toward the table and shoved a slight man with round glasses who was still wearing his Ministry badge and chatting with his co-workers.

“This is our table,” the bulky wizard said gruffly.

“It doesn’t appear that it is, sir. As we are already sitting here,” the Ministry worker said with more conviction than his eyes were showing.

“We sit here after work every night, now get up and let us have it.”

“We’ll be finished shortly, and you can have it then, or you can sit over there.” The Ministry wizard waved toward an empty table of the far side of the room that was not quite big enough for the rowdy crew.

Knowing that nothing good could happen next, Hannah came over and tried to diffuse the situation.

“Good evening, Gentlemen. It’s good to see you again, may I seat you over here,” she said as she gestured toward the empty table, “or perhaps you’d like to sit at one of our tables outside.”

“It’s too bloody hot to sit outside, and there’s not enough room at that table. This is our table, we sit here every night,” he responded as his voice got louder. Tom came out from the kitchen ready to help Hannah if necessary, after hearing the loud voices.

“As you can see this table is already taken, it is first come, first serve seating here after all. You may wait for this table to open up, or you can sit elsewhere, or you can go to another establishment if you wish.”

The man reached out and grabbed her arm roughly. Before Tom could even make his way from behind the bar though, boils began to appear all over the man’s face. He released her quickly as he reached up to feel his bubbling face.

“Oi! Whaddya do that for wench?”

“I think it’s time for you and your friends to leave, sir, or else I will have to hex you into next week.”

She turned and faced the rest of the wizards with her wand drawn, daring them to come at her. They turned and started out the door. The main with the boils was trying to decide whether to follow or retaliate, when Tom came up behind her with his wand drawn as well. Without his friends to back him up, he turned tail and headed out the door. 

“You may want to stop at the apothecary for some ointment,” Hannah called after him.

The Ministry wizards all seemed rather dumbfounded that this young lady had just single-handedly gotten rid of the rough-housers. She nodded at them as she said, “Is there anything else I can get for you gentlemen?”

They shook their heads, “Just the check, please, miss.”

“Certainly.” She muttered an incantation and a slip of paper appeared from the tip of her wand. She handed it to the man with the round glasses and returned to the kitchen to pick up the order for another table.

She glanced at her watch and realized it was nearly time for her shift to be over. She finished serving her last table and waved as the Ministry workers left the pub. She walked over to the table and waved her wand to clear the table and wash it for the next group. She found a rather sizable tip on the table. She smiled as she pocketed the galleons. The rowdy group who normally sat at that table had never tipped much more than a few knuts.

She went into the kitchen and hung up her apron. As she began to make her way out of the kitchen, Tom stopped her.

“You handled yourself right well there tonight, missy. I reckon you know how to hold your own after all.”

“I wasn’t in Dumbledore’s Army for nothing, Tom,” she said cheekily. “Speaking of which, I must get ready. My friends will be here soon.” 

~*~

At quarter to eight, Hannah found herself in the back room of the Leaky Cauldron putting the finishing touches on the tables with food and drinks. She had showered and changed into lightweight robes that were in a soft lavender colour. She was lighting some of the candles in the sconces on the wall when she heard something behind her. She turned and saw Neville standing in the doorway. She smiled at him as he walked towards her.

“Hello, Stranger,” she said with a smile as he put his arms around her waist and pulled her close. It had been two weeks since she had last seen him. His grandmother had insisted on taking him on a vacation before he was to start his new job, and he’d just returned the day before.

“Hello. You look beautiful,” Neville said quietly and with a slight blush. “I missed you more than you know.”

“Really? I missed you, too.” She stood up on her toes and gave him a quick kiss. She noticed his cheeks blush deeper as she pulled away, but he surprised her by pulling her closer still and kissing her soundly. Her arms reached up and wrapped around his neck as his wrapped tighter around her waist. One hand slipped up her back and into her hair which was now hanging loose around her shoulders.

“Sorry to interrupt, mates…perhaps we should come back later?”

They broke away quickly at the sound of Seamus’ voice.

“Or perhaps they should go upstairs,” Dean quipped with a wink, “there are plenty of rooms available I believe.”

“Hello, boys,” Hannah said as she put her hand to her hair to try to put it right again, “Welcome to the first post-Hogwarts meeting of the VoH. Help yourselves.” She waved over the table that was filled with desserts and cheeses.

“Right,” Seamus said with a grin as he picked up a plate and began to load it with food. Hannah made a plate for herself as well and sat down next to Neville at one of the tables where he was telling Dean and Seamus about his trip. His Gran had taken him to the South of France. 

Next to arrive were Harry, Ginny, Ron, and Hermione. They had apparated from the Burrow where they’d just finished eating dinner with Mr. and Mrs. Weasley.

Shortly after Lavender and Parvati arrived, and then just as everyone was sitting and catching up with each other, George arrived followed closely by Lee and Angelina.

Ron looked surprised to see his brother there and stood up and walked over to him.

“Hello, George. What are you doing here?”

“Seamus was telling us about the meeting at the store today. I was a member of Dumbledore’s Army, and I fought in the war. Doesn’t that make me a Veteran, too?”

“It certainly does,” Hermione stated, “it’s good to see you all here. Welcome.”

George, Lee, and Angelina filled their plates and sat down at a long table where the other Weasleys were sitting with their significant others as well as Neville and Hannah. 

“So, ladies,” George said looking at Ginny and Hermione, “was the flat hunting successful?”

“Oh, yes, Ginny, congratulations on making the Harpies!” Hannah exclaimed. 

“Thanks, Hannah. The competition was fierce, I really wasn’t sure if I’d make the team.”

“Never had a doubt, love,” Harry said with a smirk.

“We’ve looked at so many flats in the past two days. We want something with two bedrooms, that’s not too far from campus. There isn’t much in the wizarding neighbourhoods, so we started looking in the muggle ones. We found one today that I think will do nicely. It’s close enough to walk to campus, but there’s a well hidden alley out back that we can apparate from if necessary. We told the landlord we were interested and hopefully we’ll hear from him soon.”

“Oh, it’ll be so fun to be on your own, won’t it?” Hannah said looking at the two girls.

“I hope so. Mum is none too pleased with the idea but warmed up to it when she found out I’d be living with Hermione. I’ll be gone quite a bit with the team anyway, so she wouldn’t have me around to keep an eye on then as it is,” Ginny said with a laugh.

“How are things going for you here at the pub, Hannah?” Harry asked.

“Oh, it’s going quite well, thank you. Tom seems pleased with me, and I’ve got a room on the third floor that he’s allowing me to stay in. I’ll be able to take classes during the day and work at night and stay here, so it works out nicely. There was a bit of nastiness this evening. The heat seems to be causing tempers to flare and I had to hex a man who was trying to cause a scene. But he and his friends left without anymore issues.”

Neville looked slightly concerned. She reached over and squeezed his hand, “Everything is fine. Thanks to Harry and the DA I know how to take care of myself.”

It was half ten when Lavender and Seamus got up to leave.

“Thanks for hosting the first of these, Hannah,” Lavender said as she gave her a hug.

“Yes, Hannah, this was a great place to have our first meeting outside of school,” Hermione added.

“Mum has said that we can have the next one at the Burrow,” Ron put in. “She wants to have a going away party for me and Harry before we leave for Ireland anyway, so the third Friday in August we’ll see you all there.”

“We’ll be there, but for now we have to go. We’re both opening the stores tomorrow morning,” Lavender said as they were making their way out the door.

“Yeah, have to be bright eyed for the customers.” Seamus winked at George.

“Don’t forget to turn off the alarm spell this time,” George said, “I don’t fancy having to get out of bed to put everything back to rights again.”

Seamus reddened as he recalled his first day of opening the store when Catherine Wheels and a chorus of banshee wails had gone off when he failed to utter the counterspell to the alarm before entering.

Dean and Parvati left soon after. It was after eleven when the remainder of the group helped Hannah clean up the room and went out to the main dining area. Hannah was the last one out of the room and she whispered “Nox” and the lights went out. As she shut the door behind her, she saw Ginny, Hermione, and Angelina head toward the loo. Lee and George went out the front door, and Harry and Ron were standing by the bar. Neville was waiting for her by the bar as well. 

She walked over and whispered, “I’ll be right back. I just need to put this rubbish out back.” He nodded and watched as she went through the kitchen door. He turned back toward Ron and Harry.

Hannah carried the bag with the rubbish through the kitchen and out behind the Leaky Cauldron. She looked up at the night sky as she waved her wand and levitated the bag into the bin. The heat was still oppressive even at this late hour. She turned to go back inside but was blocked by the man from earlier in the evening. He and a few of his friends were standing in the alley, each pointing their wands at her. She stepped back and gripped her wand tightly in her hand. She felt her heart begin to race as she looked at the men standing in front of her. There were four of them, and she was by herself. She wondered how she could get the others’ attention still inside the pub.

“Hello again, poppet,” the boil faced man grunted.

“You need to get out of my way and let me pass. I’ve hexed you once, I’m not afraid to do it again.”

“Awfully brave for a little girl, aren’t you?” said the man to his left.

“I’m not such a little girl,” she managed to keep the waver out of her voice as she raised her wand higher in front of her.

“We’ll just see about that, now won’t we?” Boils said as he stepped closer.

“STUPEFY!” she shouted as she stepped back behind the rubbish bin.

She heard one of the men scream as the others began to charge.

“PROTEGO!” she shouted again and whatever curse that had been hurled her way bounced off her shield. Before she could decide what to do next though she heard the shouts of various curses being flung and the screams of the attacking men as they were attacked. She chanced a glance and saw two of the men writhing on the ground, one was dancing a jig, one was running in the opposite direction. The main with the boils appeared to have bats flying out of his nose and attacking his face. She looked up to see Neville standing over her offering out his hand. 

“Are you okay?” he asked, “When you didn’t come straight back, I headed out to check on you. That’s when I heard you yell. The others must have heard you as well because they were right behind me.”

She looked behind Neville and saw Harry and Ron hoisting the two men from the ground. She watched as rope came out of their wands and wrapped around the men. Hermione was watching the dancing man with a look of amusement on her face while Ginny had her wand trained on the man with the bat bogeys. Lee, George, and Angelina came up the alley with the last man bound and levitating in front them.

Harry sent a message with his Patronus to Kingsley Shackelbolt. One of the men bound beside him looked at him incredulously as he watched the silver stag bound away.

“Who the bloody hell are you kids?” he asked.

“Kids?” Ron said not hiding the contempt in his voice.

Neville turned holding Hannah close to him, “You chose the wrong kids to mess with. We’re the Veterans of Hogwarts.”

Just then several loud cracks announced the arrival of Kingsley and several of his Aurors. They took control of the situation, transported the five men back to the Ministry and took statements from Hannah and the others.

It was well past midnight when everyone finally left the Leaky Cauldron. Neville insisted on walking Hannah up to her room and checking to make sure there was no one there. Hannah was still slightly shaken from the events of the evening and was happy to have Neville stay near.

“Thank you, Neville. I’m not sure how long I would have been able to hold them off by myself.”

“You seemed to be doing a fine job on your own, but I’m glad we were there to help.” He reached out and pulled her close to him. She melted into him and felt her knees go weak. He guided her over to the bed and helped her to sit. He knelt on the floor beside her and searched her face. “I don’t have to go yet. I can stay if you need me to.”

At that point nothing sounded better to Hannah than having Neville stay with her and hold him in his arms, but was it the proper thing to do?

“What will your Gran say if you don’t come home?”

“I’ll send her an owl telling her I took a room at the inn due to the late hour.”

“You really shouldn’t,” she began.

“I’m not ready to let you out of my sight quite yet. I’ll just go downstairs and send that owl. I’ll be right back.” 

He kissed her gently as he stood and walked out the door. Hannah picked up her wand that was on the bed next to her and whispered a cooling charm on the room to help circulate the air. She kicked her shoes off and eased her way up to the head of the bed. Neville returned a few minutes later. He sat down on the edge of the bed and took off his own shoes. He lay down beside her and wrapped his arms around her. Hannah sighed as she snuggled closer in feeling safer than she had in a long time. It wasn’t long before she gave into the exhaustion from the heat and events of the day and fell asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A huge thank you to momotwins (aka WeasleyTwinMom) for beta'ing this for me.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The VoH gets together for their final meeting before Ron and Harry leave for Auror training. Is it the end of the Veterans of Hogwarts, or just the beginning?

The smell of bacon cooking brought Ron out of his deep sleep. He stretched languidly as his stomach reacted to the smell by making a loud grumbling sound. 

Harry was already sitting up and was pulling a clean shirt over his head. “Good to know some things never change,” he said with a chuckle.

Ron tossed his pillow at Harry and stumbled out of bed. The room was filled with piles of books and clothing that they had been sorting to pack into the trunks they were taking with them the next day. 

“Reckon we’ll need dress robes for anything?” Harry asked as he sat on the floor surrounded by his piles. 

“Not bloody likely,” Ron responded through a yawn, “and we can always have Mum owl them if we do need them.”

“True.” Harry flicked his wand and his dark green robes folded themselves and settled into the trunk of his belongings that was staying at the Burrow. 

“We should get downstairs. Your mum has a list of things for us to do to prepare for the party tonight.”

“Ronald Weasley! You cannot sleep the day away!” The sound of Molly Weasley’s voice came up the stairs. 

“Come on, mate, let’s eat!” Harry said as he headed out the door. 

Ron didn’t bother to get dressed first. He simply ran a hand through his wild hair (it seemed to be fighting for the title of most unruly with Harry’s this morning) and made his way down the stairs with Harry following closely behind him.  
He was surprised to see Ginny and Hermione already sitting at the kitchen table. He was still a bit sore from helping the two girls move into their flat earlier that week. Hermione had insisted on them carrying all the furniture in by hand since they were living in a Muggle neighbourhood. Bloody inconvenient, that. 

“Can’t we just cover the couch with the invisibility cloak and levitate the bloody thing in?” he had grumbled as he and Harry had awkwardly carried it up the steps to the second floor. Hermione had simply rolled her eyes at him on her way past to get yet another box of books to bring up. 

He glanced at the clock on the wall (the one that actually gave the time, not the one with everyone’s faces on it) to see that it was just after nine. 

Hermione looked up from her plate when she heard him come down the stairs and had to hide the small gasp that escaped at the sight of Ron wearing just his shorts and looking tousled. Ginny just laughed and patted her on the back as she coughed, knowing the real reason for the inhaled piece of toast. 

“You all right there, Hermione?” Ron asked with a smirk, he’d seen the look on her face as well. He snatched a piece of bacon from her plate as he sat down on the bench beside her. She smacked at his hand playfully. 

“Get your own.” 

Before he could respond, two plates laden with eggs, toast, and bacon were levitated in front of him and Harry, and the glass in front of him filled with milk. He took a long swig and a bite of eggs before mumbling, “How come you’re here s’urly,” 

“Ronald Weasley, how many times have I told you not to talk with your mouth full,” Mrs. Weasley chided. Ron just shrugged as he put another forkful into his mouth.

“Well, we have a lot to do to get ready for the going away party tonight, don’t we?” Ginny responded. “We could have stayed home and let you lot spend the day de-gnoming the garden and cleaning, but we thought we’d help out.”

“ S’only fair that you help out, we spent two days carrying your stuff up two flights of stairs to your flat,” Harry said as he swallowed his own bite of food.

“And we are eternally thankful to you, too,” Ginny said with a giggle.

As they finished their breakfast, Mrs. Weasley began delegating chores to everyone. Harry and Ginny headed outside to clean out the broom shed, while Hermione helped Mrs. Weasley clean up after breakfast as Ron went upstairs to get dressed.   
“How are things in the flat, dear?” Mrs. Weasley asked as she levitated the dishes to the sink where they began to wash themselves. 

“Chaotic, still. I’m still trying to find the best way to organize my books, and Ginny and I are still trying to decide on where to put the furniture in the sitting room.” 

“Creating a home can seem a daunting experience, but I’ve no doubt you’ll handle it brilliantly like everything else,” Mrs. Weasley said as she patted her hand. “When do your classes start?” 

“Monday. I’ve received my class schedule. Advanced Ancient Runes, American Literature, Gobbledygook…”

“American literature?” Mrs. Weasley interrupted. 

“Yes, it’s a combination Muggle/Magic university, so I’ll be taking both Muggle and Magic classes. I’d like to learn more about classic American literature, so that’s one of the classes I’m taking.” 

“Ah, I see.”

They both turned to see Ron come bounding down the stairs wearing jeans and a clean t-shirt. 

“All right you two… off to the garden.” 

Ron stepped aside to let Hermione pass and placed his hand on the small of her back to guide her out the back door. Hermione smiled at the small gesture that seemed to say so much. When they reached the garden, she turned and smiled up at him before standing on her tiptoes to give him a kiss. 

“Good morning.”

“It is now,” Ron replied, and kissed her again more deeply. They broke apart when they heard snickering and saw one of the potato headed gnomes gawking at them. Ron bent down and grabbed it by the ankles, swinging him high above his head, then watched as it went soaring through the sky. Hermione cringed slightly.

“I know they’re foul little creatures, but it still seems so barbaric.” She refused to do it, so she bent down and started pulling weeds from the plants in the garden.

“Well, then someday you can create a treaty with the little buggers where they’ll leave us alone,” Ron said sarcastically as he bent down to toss another one.

Hermione stopped and looked at him. She knew he was joking, but the idea intrigued her. 

“That’s a great idea, Ron.”

He turned to look at her with a puzzled look on his face. “What’s a great idea?”

“Creating a treaty with the gnomes.” One look at her face told him she was seriously pondering the idea.

“Hermione, they’re gnomes. They don’t even speak, how are you going to create a bloody treaty with them?”

“Just because you can’t understand their language doesn’t mean they don’t have one, Ronald. I wonder if anyone has really taken the time to study them closely to learn their language.” She turned to watch two gnomes that were taunting Ron as he stood there looking at Hermione with his mouth agape. 

Ron just shook his head and mumbled under his breath, “Mental, I tell you.” Then he went about flinging the gnomes out of the garden as Hermione continued pulling weeds and pondering the best way to try to communicate with the gnomes.

The sound of a loud crash coming from the broom shed and then giggling interrupted their work. Ron looked over at Hermione who had a large grin on her face.

“Reckon we should see if they’re all right?” he asked.

“No… I don’t think that would be wise, they’ll let us know if they need help.” Ron continued looking toward the broom shed for a few seconds before his eyes widened and he turned to look back at Hermione.

“I’ll bloody kill him.” 

Hermione grabbed his hand and then wrapped her arms around him.

“Leave them alone, Ron. It’ll be a long time before they see each other again.” She looked up at him and he saw a sadness cross over her face. Her voice lowered to a whisper, “It’s going to be a long time before we see each other again, too.”

“Don’t Hermione. It’s hard enough to go already, don’t make it harder,” he said as he pulled her closer and tried to swallow the lump that had formed in his throat. 

She quickly wiped at her eyes, “You’re right. Let’s finish this garden and go for a walk, just the two of us,” she said as she kissed him again. 

~*~

As the sun began to set behind the trees that surrounded the Burrow, the garden took on a festive look. George and Lee were hanging fairylights around as Neville, Ron and Harry used their wands to move the tables out into the garden. Hermione, Ginny, Hannah, and Angelina were setting food and drinks onto a table next to the house. Dean, Seamus, Lavender, Parvati, and Luna arrived carrying covered dishes and bottles of butterbeer and firewhisky.

Mr. and Mrs. Weasley came out and joined them for dinner and then went inside to let them enjoy their evening. Arthur came into their bedroom later to see Molly standing at their window overlooking the garden, tears streaming down her face.

“Molly, dear, what’s wrong?” he asked as he came up behind her and looked down too.

“They’re leaving us, Arthur. All of them. Ron and Harry are going to Ireland tomorrow, Ginny and Hermione have their own place to live, now. All of our children are grown. We won’t have a garden full of children laughing and talking anymore.”

Arthur wrapped his arms around her and kissed the top of her head. “Children grow and leave, but they always seem to come home again. And it won’t be too much longer before they’ll be bringing children of their own into our garden,” he said with a voice choked on emotion at the thought of red headed grandchildren running around the Burrow.

Molly smiled at the thought herself, and looked down at her children again. Ron and Hermione were sitting close to one another whispering. Ron had his arm slung casually around Hermione’s shoulders, and she had her head on his shoulder. She had always known those two would find their way to one another. Harry and Ginny were zooming around the garden on their broomsticks, soaring high into the sky and then swooping down low to the shrieks of those still on the ground. They came close but never actually crashed, pulling up at the last minute. George and Angelina were dancing to the music coming from the Wireless. She felt a pang at seeing the two of them together. It was good to see George acting more like himself, but it made her feel the loss of Fred that much more deeply. She smiled to see the young man Neville had grown into, as he stood behind Hannah with his arms wrapped around her, listening to Luna tell what was surely a bizarre story based on the puzzled but fascinated looks on their faces. She heard swearing as a house of cards exploded, singeing Seamus’ eyebrows as Dean, Parvati and Lavender all laughed at the sight. 

She sighed as she remembered watching all those children on Platform 9 ¾ so many years ago, scared, and excited to be going off to Hogwarts for the first time. They’d seen so much over the past eight years, more than anyone their age should have, but they had a bright future ahead of them now. And Arthur was right; from the looks of things it wouldn’t be too much longer before they would have grandchildren underfoot. She smiled at the thought. 

“Come along dear, let’s go to bed,” she said as she led him away from the window.

~*~

The full moon shone brightly over the Burrow as the Veterans gathered around a large bonfire that George and Lee had enchanted to glow in a rainbow of colours. The mood had become more subdued as the evening waned. The voices speaking to each other were quieter and things seemed to be winding down. 

“Well, mates, good luck at Auror training,” Seamus said. “Me mum said if you ever needed a place to go, you're welcome at our house.” Harry remembered how Seamus’ mum had been opposed to him coming back to Hogwarts after fourth year. Her opinion of Harry seemed to have improved.

“Thanks, mate. I’m sure when Ron is particularly missing a home cooked meal, we may do just that,” Harry said with a smile.

“Oh, that reminds me,” Hermione began. She waved her wand and a large box appeared. “Hagrid sent some rock cakes for you to take with you.”

“Great. We can use them as targets for spell practice,” Ron said with a small laugh.

“Well, there are some other things in there as well, love, your mum’s been teaching me how to make some of your favourite things. They should last you a few weeks, but knowing you will probably only last a day.”

Ron looked in the box and was thrilled to see his favourite biscuits and cakes inside.

“Thanks, Hermione. I have something for you, too,” he said with a twinkle in his eye.

“Hey, it’s from both of us, remember?” Harry said indignantly as a wrapped package appeared with a flick of Ron’s wand.

Hermione looked at her two best friends as she took the package and began to open it. Inside was a beautiful leather agenda with her name embossed on the outside, as well as the crest for Penrose University. 

“Oh, it’s beautiful,” she said as she held it up and inhaled the intoxicating scent of the leather and parchment.”

“Well, we know how you like to be organized with your classes. Open it up,” Ron said with a glance toward Harry who was grinning widely. Then without waiting for her to do it, he reached over and opened it up to 19 September. 

Suddenly, the voices of Harry and Ron came out of the book singing “Happy Birthday” loudly. Then they all heard Ron’s voice saying, “Close the bloody books and go out and enjoy yourself! It’s your birthday and I know you already have your assignments completed.”

Laughter echoed through the night air as the sound slowly faded away. Hermione looked at Harry and Ron to see the twinkle in their eyes.

“Remember those agendas you gave us? Telling us not to procrastinate? Well, we decided you needed one to remind you to have a little fun, since we won’t be there to distract you ourselves. Promise me that you won’t spend all your time studying, Hermione. You need to take a chance to enjoy life a little,” Ron said as he pulled her closer to him.

“Yeah, you’ll find we’ve charmed it to say all kinds of things throughout the year. You won’t know what until you get to that date, though,” Harry said with a grin.

The tears that she had been holding back up until this point suddenly couldn’t be contained any more. She stood up and hugged both her boys close to her.

“You two take care of each other. Harry, I’m trusting you to keep Ron focused on his studies, and Ron,” she turned to him and gave him a watery smile, “make sure that Harry doesn’t take himself too seriously.”

Ginny stood and was included in the group hug, while the others looked on.

“Don’t worry. We’ll make sure that we still have monthly VoH meetings,” Dean said in an attempt to break up the moment before it got too melancholy.

“Yes, Seamus and I are planning the next one,” Lavender said, “but for now, we really should be heading home.” She stood and walked over to Harry and Ron and gave them each a hug. She lingered a second longer hugging Ron, much to Hermione’s distaste. “Take care of yourselves. Good luck.”

They hugged and shook hands as the group said their goodbyes, not sure when they would all be together again.   
“Take of her, Neville,” Ron said as he said goodbye to his old dorm mate. “She’ll hole herself up in her flat and do nothing but study, especially if Ginny’s on the road. Don’t let her.” 

“I’ll make sure she gets out, don’t worry.” 

“Thanks, mate!” Ron said as he clapped Neville on the shoulder. 

Harry, Ginny, Ron, and Hermione sat after the others had left and watched as the fire slowly died away. Ron and Harry had to leave early in the morning, so the girls were staying the night at the Burrow to be able to say goodbye to them. 

Ginny waved her wand and four bottles of butterbeer floated toward them. She raised her bottle, looked at her brother, her best friend, and her boyfriend. “To our future; I love you all.” 

They raised their bottles in response and drank to friendship, love, and their future.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And it’s done! 8 months of working on this little bunny that came about from a conversation in the cbox at SAYS (Serious About Your Skills), and it’s finally finished. Before this story, I wondered what JKR was thinking when she put Neville and Hannah together. I decided to include a bit of that in this story, and found a ship that I never would have thought of, but have absolutely fallen in love with! I was a Neville/Luna shipper before (and I still love a good story with them), but Neville/Hannah is a beautiful ship and I’ve loved writing them. I don’t see Seamus and Lavender staying together. Given what we know about when Victoire was born… I imagine that Bill and Fleur will be announcing that pregnancy very shortly, and there really will be a new generation of red headed children running around the Burrow garden. I started this story as a way to set the stage for other one-shots. I’ve already completed one, Hair of the Dog that takes place approximately 6 months after this chapter, but I have ideas for others. I’d like to take this opportunity to thank all who have read, reviewed, prodded, poked, supported and otherwise helped me to continue (and finish) this story. This includes, but is not limited to GubraithianFire (who started the conversation that prompted this whole idea), andharrywokeup, emz, war_and_peace (my wonderful Twitty, who beta’d the beginning of this story), Eyriana (aka Beyond the Veil, who is my twin separated by 20 years) and momotwins who has been so kind as to beta the final chapters of it. So thank you for allowing me to follow this flight of fancy, I hope it brought you some joy.

**Author's Note:**

> When I originally wrote this story, JK Rowling had not yet said that Hermione would have been the only one of the "Golden Trio" to return to Hogwarts to complete their final year. Canon is unclear as to whether Lavender was killed by Greyback. I've chosen to believe that she survived the attack.


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